Around the World
by hahahero
Summary: Howl has been cursed by the Witch, and if he does not find the anticurse and the Witch in 120 days, Howl'll lose his magic. On the way there, he meets Sophie, and her good friend Kasha, and the three join forces for different reasons. What'll happen?
1. Chapter 1

**I'm just too lazy to write down all those disclaimers, so I'll put them in my profile.**

**So don't sue me!**

**Anyhow.**

'**Tis my very first fanfic—and it's on my absolutely all-time favorite book. Yay! I'm really, really excited. So… Please read & review! Updates may come slowly. School can do amazing (in this case in a bad way) things.**

**Summary: It's around the world and more in 120 days. Can they make it? (Who's "they"? You'll see.)**

Around the World

Chapter 1,

In Which an Offer Was Made

"What? What do you mean the train can't come?" complained the young man in rage. "I need to get to Bicknell now!"

"Sir, the train does not arrive for another twenty-four hours. I cannot change the schedule," explained the irritated train engineer. This grumbling young fellow just does not seem to get it. "There's nothing I can do."

Cursing, the 'grumbling young fellow' stormed away. After looking around, annoyed, for a while, he settled on a bench and plopped down his luggage—a beat-up old bag—beside him. Face in hands, he grumbled about the stupid train schedule.

"Excuse me, sir, but I see that you are in a hurry to get somewhere?" the young man looked up to see a girl in her mid- to late-twenties standing in front of him, her head cocked. "You know there are other ways to get around here, don't you?"

He didn't. "Other ways?"

"Why, yes!" the girl seemed surprised. "You can go by wagon, for example, and—"

"And how fast is that?" he inquired.

"—It takes at least two days and at most three."

"Oh, no, that's way too long—"

"Or there's the elephant," suggested the girl.

"Elephant?"

"You can always rent one, or even buy one. That's what I would do if I were you."

"And it takes—"

"It takes only about a day and a half."

"Good! I will be taking that." The fellow stood up, his old bag in hand, and seemed anxious to leave. "Oh, and thank you, by the way."

"May I go with you?" asked the young lady. Her eyes sparkled eagerly, and the young man couldn't say no.

"Well, yes, if you want to," he replied.

So they rented an elephant and began the journey immediately, while it was still morning, to get there faster.

There was no way they could've known what this would lead to.

A/N Short chapter? Yes. But I try… Now… Please review! I kind of need criticism… That just sounded funny… 

**(By the way… the elephant's faster than the wagon because it can go through areas that aren't roads, whereas the wagon can only stay on the road, which goes around quite a ways before swerving back towards Bicknell.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi. :**

**Oh, yes, and by the way, the elephant-travel-thing. The passengers are held on to the elephant by… Well, it's like in Aladdin, where there's this little box-room tied on top of the elephant, except here, there's no expensive carpet, only a level 'floor'. And it's fastened on by magic, not by strings and whatnot. Maximum passengers? Uh, around five, I guess, due to spells that made the space much bigger than it actually is. And… There it is—the explanation!**

**The journey continues! Longer chapter this time too! Review please… After you read…**

Chapter 2,

In Which the Journey on the Elephant Begins and Continues

"So, tell me. What is your name?" asked the young lady as they settled upon the picturesque carpet fastened on the elephant (by magic, of course) along with its owner as their guide.

"I'm--" the young man started, but seemed reconsider something. "The name's Howl. Howell Pendragon." Oh, how he loved that name. Pendragon!

"Pendragon…" muttered the girl under her breath. It sounded kind of familiar but she couldn't make out why.

"What was that?" Howell, or Howl, asked.

"Nothing," the girl replied.

_Nothing? _But Howl decided it didn't matter. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sophie Hatter."

"Why, I think that's a beautiful name!" remarked Howl.

Sophie almost blushed, her cheeks a very light pink. "Um, thank you." She kind of figured out who he was now. Howell Pendragon. Of course! But if he really was _that person,_ she'd better watch out.

Howl gave her his one-of-a-kind attracting smile, green eyes twinkling

"So, what takes you on this trip? And where did you come from?" Sophie asked, dazzled by his smile.

"My trip… that's—not a really appropriate name for it… But it's a long story."

Howl fidgeted around uncomfortably before answering the other question. Finally he replied, "…Porthaven. Yes, Porthaven." A faraway look formed in his eyes.

"Really? I'm from Market Chipping," she said. Then, after deciding it couldn't do much harm, told him: "My family runs a hat shop there." Sophie seemed rather proud. Howl couldn't think why. What's so good about _that?_

Sophie thought for a moment when Howl didn't say anything. "Mr. Howell?"

"Call me Howl, but—yes?" the man shook himself from his reverie and his eyes returned to normal.

"Are you a wizard?" Sophie wanted to confirm something.

"Well, yes—"

"Can you demonstrate?"

"Huh—No, no, wait, you see…" his voice trailed off, and he started squirming around again. Sophie's eyebrows rose. "Y-you see, I was an—an ex-wizard. Yes, ex-wizard," he added when Sophie gave him a skeptic look. "My magic, _unfortunately, _was taken away. By—" Howl stopped there.

"By whom?" asked Sophie, getting more curious by the second. "Who took it away?" Howl shook his head, and turned around. He was slipping too much. What was with him? To avoid answering anymore, he brought out a bottle from his bag, flipped open the top, and drank from it. Sophie thought she saw two embossed letters on the aluminum, one of which could have been a H, but Howl quickly covered it with his hand.

"What does that say?" Sophie tried to look, peering at it from different angles, but Howl's hand covered it firmly. "What're the letters?" When Howl didn't respond, Sophie began to try to pry his fingers out of covering it.

"Nothing," said Howl finally when he couldn't possibly drink any more water. And besides, he wanted to save some for the rest of the trip.

"I saw a H!" said Sophie determinedly. "You can't fool me on that."

"Fine. You saw a H. It's my first name!"

"There was more," said Sophie, "wasn't there?"

Howl, flipping the cap of the bottle back on, felt a bit annoyed. _This Sophie. She_ is _pretty, I guess, _he thought a little unwillingly,_ but terribly nosy._

Sophie didn't give up. She continued to work at his fingers. _And she gets used to strangers fast. One moment it's Mr. Pendragon, the next working into my personal _private_ information._ As he thought, Sophie succeeded. She poked him with a nail, causing Howl to remove one of his hands from the bottle in pain. "Ow! That _hurt!_" Sophie, ignorant of his outcry, looked at the letters. JH, it was. "JH? What's that?"

Howl was at a lost for ideas. "It's, oh, it's letters in my name." He mentally kicked himself. What kind of people put random letters in their names on their water-cans? J and H… Oh, no. Botheration!

"Huh. From what I'd learned, the letter J isn't a part of the name Howell Pendragon," Sophie said sarcastically. Howl swore violently but quietly to himself—the second time that day—and turned away. "It's my middle name."

Seeing this, Sophie worked up a different approach at confirmation. "Well then, do you know, by any chance, Wizard Howl? Have you heard of him—Howl Jenkins? Strange you have the same first name… And that J, now that I think about it…"

At this he whipped around again, almost falling off the elephant. It seemed like he could hardly control himself. "Wizard Howl? Why, no." Pause. "Hmm… Maybe I have. Any reasons why you'd asked?" Several of-course-what-did-you-think? nods from Sophie.

"He could be big talk sometimes in Market Chipping, especially in the hat shop," remarked Sophie casually. "Him and the Witch of the Waste." Howl seemed to twitch at the mention of the Witch. "Anyway, the Witch doesn't bother with girls, but Wizard Howl! That man, he eats girls' hearts and take their souls!" These were not lies. Sophie had heard them many-a-times from her stepmother, Fanny, whenever Wizard Howl came into question. "Never venture out alone if that man's out there," Fanny had said. "Or he'll get you and there'll be nothing I can do." Wizard Howl had become some sort of a legend then; nobody around Market Chipping had seen him, really, there were only these stories. The kind that parents told to keep kids in bed, like the one of the big wolf who liked to eat small kids.

Howl stared at Sophie with his mouth slightly open—in what, confusion, perhaps?—when Sophie said that. "_Eat_ girls' hearts? Take their _souls_?" After a few seconds, Howl seemed to remember something, and his expression slowly returned to normal. "Oh. Oh, yes, eat girls' hearts. I've heard he did that." The ex-wizard—as he'd said he was—seemed rather pale as he muttered something about 'blackening' and 'Market Chipping.'

"Mr. Ho—Howl? Are you quite all right?" Sophie appeared worried. Howl hastily nodded, but spoke no more. This left Sophie more time to think.

_So. Is this man really who I think he is? But he won't let up. This—this "Howell Pendragon." Might he be Wizard Howl? Howl isn't that common a first name. I'll try to get more out of him. If Howl really is that wizard, I'll have to call out—_

"Sophie?" Howl interrupted her thoughts. "Are _you_ a witch?"

Sophie stared at Howl for a few moments, then laughed. "Seriously, Howl! Do I _look_ like a witch to you? Whatever gave you that idea!"

Howl looked hurt, and perhaps a little surprised. "There's always the possibility, Sophie. You never know. Really!" he added as Sophie's laughter went up a volume.

"Howl, I'm the _eldest_ of three." She said the word _eldest _with a grimace. "There's absolutely no chance that I'll have magic in me! Although Martha and Lettie may have that stuff in them." Howl gave her a confused look. "They're my sisters," Sophie explained. "Oh, and Kasha could do magic too. She's a splendid friend of mine. Kasha's here too—"

"Where?"

Sophie pointed to a glass bottle filled with many-colored swirling mists on her belt. "Here. It's an Enchanted Bottle." It was labeled—in neat, slightly slanted cursive—Dyana.

Howl looked closely as Sophie carefully extracted the Bottle from her belt and placed it on her hand. "Another world?" he asked.

Sophie shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Kasha explained, but I never got it."

Remembering something, Howl dragged his bag closer to him, and pulled it open. Strapped to the inside of the bag was a bottle, not unlike Sophie's own, though this one was filled with flame-like substance. "It's—" he hesitated.

"Go on," urged Sophie.

"Okay, all right. It's a fire demon," Howl said, taking the cork out from the bottle, and then added a bit hesitantly, "His name is Calcifer."

"Oh," said Sophie, clearly confused.

"He's a friend." Howl adjusted his position on the elephant so that the guide wouldn't see whatever was going to happen. The cork came out from the Bottle with a small _pop_, and the fire-thing inside floated out, enlarging as it came. The thing groaned loudly and abruptly, causing Sophie to jerk in surprise.

"Curses, Howl!" the fire, Calcifer, grumbled. "I was sleeping!" Then the fire demon saw Sophie. It stared, and Sophie stared back. The demon had a thin blue face, with curly green flames on top—hair, Sophie supposed. There were orange-red eyes with purplish glints in their centers, like pupils, and green eyebrows. And those purple teeth! "Who is this?" Sophie watched the sharp, pointed teeth move as the fire demon spoke.

"Sophie Hatter," answered Sophie, bewildered. This was her first time seeing a demon, let alone a _fire_ demon.

Calcifer turned back to Howl. "Another girl, Howell Jenkins?" Sophie started. _Howell Jenkins? So he _is…

Howl winced. Sophie exclaimed, "So you _aren't _some Howell Pendragon, are you? You're Wizard Howl!" Howl did not respond, but Sophie knew. But he was… so young! Older than Sophie, yes, but she hadn't imagined him to be less than thirty.

"Oh. Oops," Calcifer realized what he'd done. "Uh…" He gave a small chuckle to himself, and then returned to the Bottle. Sophie watched him go, minimizing with every inch he'd gone, and realized the Bottle also had some brownish, smooth-edged rectangles in there. Logs, she thought.

Then she turned back to Howl. Wizard Howl. Sophie was suddenly very scared. This was _Wizard Howl._ That man Fanny always warned them about. _What should I do? Should I call Kasha? _Sophie now regretted telling Howl so much, even if it was to coax his identity from him. Again, Fanny's words came back to her. Sophie shivered despite the mid-morning sun beating upon them.

"Sophie?" said Howl abruptly. "Why is this Kasha of yours in Dyana?" He wanted badly to change the subject. _It's all Calcifer's fault! _Howl thought. _I'll get him._

"Oh, that." Sophie seemed hesitant. She'd said too much already. "To find this…" An idea hit Sophie. It was dangerous, and very unsafe, but it was worth a try. "Would you be able to help, Howl?"

Howl shrugged. "Maybe. Depends on what it is."

Sophie decided to risk it. "It has to do with the Witch." This got Howl's ears. He was now leaning forward attentively.

"The Witch?" asked Howl, surprised. "Do go on."

"Well—okay." Sophie took a deep breath and hoped she was doing the right thing for Kasha. "It's a curse."

Sophie began.

**A/N Howell Pendragon. Ah, such a name. Anyhow, Howl uses the name Pendragon in Kingsbury, right? So did DWJ tell us what his Pendragon's full name was? I'd like to know so maybe I can change "Howell Pendragon". It sounds kind of weird. I only used it because Mrs. Pentstemmon calls Sophie 'Mrs. Pendragon', but calls Howl 'Howell'. So I guess that was his name?**

**Well, identity revealed! It was obvious anyways. But, hey, Howl uses false names, right? And he loves 'Pendragon', so there we go.**

**Dyana, in honor of Diana Wynne Jones!! **

**Oh, and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hello! We meet yet again… 

**Anyways this is the 3rd chapter!**

**Well… not really much to say (you can clearly see I'm not much one for intros), so I guess… read on!**

Chapter 3,

In Which Kasha is introduced

"It was a little more than a month ago," said Sophie, counting off the days with her fingers, "when it happened. And… Well, long story short, the Witch put a curse on Kasha. If Kasha does not find the counter-spell in four months, the Witch will absorb Kasha's magic. Already a month has passed, and we don't even know _a thing_ yet, not even the tiniest clue. Well, except for what this wagoner told us. 'Oh, those spells?'" Sophie mimicked in a deep voice. "'Bicknell's the place—I'm pretty sure, ma'am. Lots of books on the subject and lots of magic-doers, too.' So off we were going, when you popped up."

Howl sighed dramatically. "Pretty much the same here, Sophie."

"_Serious?_" Sophie was surprised. Really, a curse put on Wizard _Howl? _"What _did _happen to you?"

"My apprentice—" Sophie gave him a look. He has an apprentice? "Yes, my _apprentice. _Michael. Recently, he's been going out at night a lot, and for _hours _at a time, too. He seldom used to even leave the place, so I got curious, and had a spell follow him one night. It turned out he was betting." Howl frowned deeply at this point. "I don't mind that, no, but he's always _losing._ And he's had no experience on the matter, so he bets too much. Doesn't even know if other people are cheating.

"So the morning after I found out, I confronted him. He seemed ashamed to me, but who knows? Anyhow, I didn't catch him gambling after that. Maybe he went out while I was away, and Calcifer didn't bother to tell me—but oh well. That wasn't the main problem. The problem was when people started arriving at my door, yelling, telling a certain Michael Fisher to pay his debt. And my good apprentice hadn't had the sense to give a false name! So they come knocking, and I have to pay, or else they just keep coming back." Sophie seemed amused. Wizard Howl had these problems, too?

"Why not put on them a—oh, I don't know—forgetful charm?" Sophie asked.

"It could go terribly wrong," said Howl. "And it takes time, and energy. Not to mention the ingredients you'd need—you don't know how _expensive _they've became these days! It'd take more money to make one of those charms than to pay them back. And there's a whole mob of them, for god's sake! I can't put a charm on every single one!"

"Oh," managed Sophie. Howl's voice had gone louder a notch when he said that; he was almost yelling. "Um, keep going."

"Well, so I paid. And paid and paid and paid. I thought, 'How much did that boy bet?' but I didn't do anything. Until one day, I counted my leftover money, and I was _broke. _Dead _broke, _I tell you!" Howl threw his arms up dramatically, almost swatting Sophie. "I could've done some simple spells for some people, I guess, but I didn't even have the right ingredients. And getting more meant buying. Money. But I had none, at least not much. And I didn't sell my things, either. Like this earring, here," Howl pointed to his ear, from where a red jewel dangled. "Or anything else. They're magical. Giving them to the wrong people could not have good results." _You're one of the 'wrong people', _thought Sophie, but she didn't say anything. "So I was left like this." At this point Howl stopped.

"Well?" asked Sophie, interested despite her thought comment on 'the wrong people'. "What happened next?"

Howl took a deep breath and started yet again. "One ominous day," he said, "I went to the town bar. I was drinking beer and all, trying to relieve myself of my worries, but beer just made me dizzy. And off-guard. So the Witch just had to come then, and _whoosh! _Took away my magic. Just like that." He snapped his fingers. "I was furious and tried to get it back, but without my trustworthy magic? No chance. She made a _bet_ with me." Howl said 'bet' as if it were a curse word. "It was… that if I could travel around the world_ and _find her in a hundred and twenty days—and she's providing me the money needed, there's one little good thing, I guess—she'll give my magic back to me. I didn't believe her, but she put a spell on her promise, and if she breaks the promise, my magic will come directly back to me. But if I don't make it…" He paused. "If I don't make it, they're keeping my magic. Forever. And Calcifer's powers, too—she took those, on the same promise. He's not happy about it, but what can we do? I have around a hundred days left, I guess. I wished then that I'd sold my precious jewels, and clothes. But I know I wouldn't have. They were too dangerous." The ex-wizard looked solemn yet frustrated. "I would've gotten Michael to help me, or any other witch or wizard, for that matter, but the_ Witch_ said, no magic. Damnation! Curse that woman!"

Sophie didn't know what to say. "Wizard Howl… This isn't… This is terrible—what do you think the Witch is planning to do, with all this extra power? And why did she only take your magic, not Kasha's?"

Howl shook his head. "No ideas here, but I can guarantee you it's not going to be anything good. For us, that is. To your second question, I think, personally, it's because I'm more powerful than this Kasha of yours." Sophie glanced at Howl with a frown at this, but she knew he was probably right, though Kasha would have been infuriated to hear that. "And—please don't call me _Wizard _Howl. It makes me feel… feel like I'm a fake. Or something."

"Oh. Okay, sure." Sophie looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, anyways, I was thinking, are there more people who's had this happened to them? This power-taking thing, I mean?"

"I don't know! Don't ask me!" snapped Howl. "Asking me is as good as asking a piece of wood this moment!" Sophie cringed, which made Howl feel a little guilty, but not at the most close enough to make him apologize. "There's one thing…" Sophie looked up at that. "Can I talk to Kasha?"

Sophie was unsure. "She _said _not to bother her… But why?"

"About the curse. I want to know more. Maybe she has information about the Witch. Please?" Howl tried the almighty puppy eyes and failed.

"Alright, alright, I'll call her!" Sophie tried to avoid Howl's eyes. Having supposedly dignified wizards, even ex-wizards, look at you with those eyes does not make you very comfortable. Especially having Wizard Howl look at you like that—decidedly creepy.

Still avoiding Howl's eyes, Sophie reached for her "Dyana" enchanted bottle. She wiped the bottle with her shirt, and then raised it high above her head. Howl watched all of this, interested, wondering if this girl could do it right.

Sophie whispered something, and Howl thought he'd heard "Sophie" something, and "Dyana." She strained her arms to an even higher elevation. Then, suddenly, white light enveloped them, blinding both of them and the elephant guide, who let out a cry of surprise. (Did you forget about him?) **A/N But the light did not reach the elephant. The light did not reach up to it.** As the light slowly faded, there was another, new figure sitting cross-legged on the elephant, a bewildered expression on her face. It was Kasha Milan.

**A/N Hurray, Kasha's introduced! My creation! Do not steal her from me without asking my permission! Or else… laughs wickedly Anyhow, review and let's hope the next chapter will be up soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

Sadly, I own nothing… besides Kasha! Ha, ha! At least I own _something _now!

Well, on with the story!

Chapter 4,

In Which Howl Tries Talking to Kasha 

"Whoa. Anyone care to tell me what just happened?" Kasha looked unsteady and was thrashing her arms around wildly, trying to grab hold of something. Sophie was glad Kasha was sitting down when she'd had summoned Kasha, or else Kasha would've fallen off the elephant. Kasha found Howl's arm and clutched to it tightly. Howl stared at her with a slight frown, but said nothing.

"Hi, Kasha," said Sophie, a tad bit nervous. "Wi—Howl here wanted to see you." She didn't want to tell Kasha who Howl was, not just yet.

"Who?" asked Kasha in a slightly irritated voice. Then she turned and glanced at the person whose arm she was still holding on to, and saw Howl. Hastily, she let go of his arm and wiped her hands on her pants, rubbing them vigorously on the dark green fabric. Howl looked at his arm where Kasha had touched it, then at Kasha, his frown apparent now. "Oh, _him._"

Howl's smile snapped on. "Yes, me. Kasha Milan, is it?" Kasha gave an agitated nod. "I wanted to talk about the Witch. About the curse she put on you, to be specific."

Kasha turned to Sophie. "You _told _him?" Sophie shrugged. "You told some stranger about my curse? What—"

"Kasha?" said Howl, careful to use a soft tone. "_I _asked. And that's because I'm under a curse, too."

"That's nice. Good luck to you for breaking it," snapped Kasha. "Why call me?"

"I just thought you might be able to help." Howl's soft tone dropped, and his voice hardened, becoming more irritated, though he kept it down to a whisper—in case the guide overheard. "Apparently you're not going to. So, good-bye forever, and don't hope to get any help from me either. And, oh, by the way, just if you don't understand who I am—the name's Howell Jenkins. Yes, Wizard Howl here." Howl seemed to be enjoying the shocked expression on Kasha's face. He smirked slightly, and leaned back onto a pole. **A/N a pole that held up the canopy.**

Much to Howl's disappointment, however, Kasha quickly recovered. "Wizard Howl, I see. The man who ate girls' hearts. I'm impressed!" Though Kasha spoke indifferently, inside she was alarmed. What did Sophie think she was doing, chatting with a man like this! "Well. I guess I may stay. If you help, that is."

"I guess I may as well. Now. Let's make a bargain."

Kasha waved her hand at Howl. "Sure. Go on. What're the things I'll have to do to get your oh-so-precious assistance?"

Howl took no notice of her sarcasm and said, "Help me get around, and I'll help you find your information. Deal?" Howl held out his hand. Kasha shook it firmly, and said, "Deal."

Sophie looked cheery, perhaps because finally there was some hope about the curse, and asked, "Kasha? Will you be going back to Dyana, now?"

"Nah," said Kasha, "I'll stay. Just to get away from the mob of creatures there; it's market day today." She yawned lazily and began to lie back on a cushion. Howl raised his eyebrows curiously at the word 'creatures', but said nothing.

No one said anything for a while. It was Sophie who broke the silence. "Anyone hungry?" she asked. "There's bread and cheese." She was answered with a chorus of "Me!"-s, even from Calcifer, though they only gave him crumbs. He had his logs.

And so the group ate, content, while the two girls mused over the concept that they were sharing a meal with Wizard Howl, and while Howl stared off into space.

**A/N**

**Well. Nothing much to say.**

**Short story, yes?**

**I'll try to put up the next chapter soon!**

**Review, please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Anyways. They arrive in Bicknell, as the title says, and—you'll see. The story goes on…**

Chapter 5,

In Which They All Arrive in Bicknell

A day had passed. The weather had gotten even hotter, and the air drier—a drastic change, compared to the chilly night air. The sun was directly overhead right now, and after several hours of cards, the crew had gotten unimaginably bored. They were all fanning themselves with their hands, and moving constantly to stay in the shade of the canopy.

They had talked with each other as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and got to know each other better. The group had, somewhat unwillingly, became friends with each other, since they were going to be together for at least a hundred days—until Howl has traveled around the world.

Sophie slapped down the ace of hearts, which won over Howl's jack. As he was about to grumble a protest, he saw little buildings at the horizon. He yelled out "I think I see _BICKNELL!_" instead—right in Sophie's ear. Irritated and temporarily deafened, Sophie thrust out at Howl's arm (not too severely; it _is _Wizard Howl) with the back of her hand.

"Watch where you yell, Howl," she said in an annoyed voice. Howl smirked, and quickly hid the smirk with an innocent expression.

"_SURE THING, Sophie!_" Howl shouted, right in Sophie's ear again. This earned him another smack on the arm.

"I'm serious, Howl," said Sophie, vexed.

By now Calcifer had been woken up by all this, and said drowsily to Howl, "Listen to Sophie, Howl. You won't believe how loud you can scream." Calcifer paused. "And don't try it out!" he added.

Sophie, feeling rather victorious with a fire demon on her side, was squinting into the distance. "I think it _is _Bicknell," she said. "There's that wooden spire—the one the wagoner mentioned."

Howl looked quite proud of himself. "See? Told you it was Bicknell." He pointed to his dark green eyes. "Good eyesight, huh." Sophie snorted. "I _do _have good eyesight!" Howl protested.

"Just a few more hours," said Sophie, ignoring Howl, "and we'll be off this elephant!" She seemed like she was… rather glad.

Early evening, a few hours later… 

"And we've arrived!" announced Howl in a joyful tone. "In only about one and a half day! Good progress, I say."

"Now… Where to stay?" Kasha wondered aloud. "Sophie? Ideas?"

"You decide, Kasha," said Sophie. "I'm too tired to do anything. And besides, I don't know this town any better than you do."

They (namely, Kasha, since she was, on this trip anyhow, the wealthier one of the girls. Howl was broke) paid and left the elephant with its owner, who wandered off to find an elephant stable and perhaps more travelers willing to journey on an elephant.

Minutes later, they found an inn. It was named the Rosy Tavern, and it looked inviting, with warm fireplaces and plush, cushioned sofas in the lounge. They (Kasha _and _Sophie this time) paid for two upstairs rooms in the small, cozy inn: Indigo and Spring, which were right by each other. The inn's rooms were, apparently, named after colors and seasons. After much debating, Sophie and Kasha got 'Spring', and Howl and Calcifer shared 'Indigo'.

They were all somewhat hungry, having eaten their last meal at least half a day ago, a few hours before they'd even spotted Bicknell. Following a few minutes of rest and settling down, Howl went downstairs for supper, leaving Calcifer in the enchanted bottle on his belt: a fire demon is not exactly a common creature.

Sophie and Kasha ate their supper—sandwiches with ham and cheese between the slices of bread—in 'Spring', chatting.

"How much do you think books would cost around here?" asked Sophie. She loved to read. It came of being the eldest, she thought, to be studious and non-adventurous. What a fortune!

"Sophie, stop it," said Kasha.

"What?" Sophie seemed confused.

"You know what! Stop trying to hide the fact! I know when something's not right. What's going on?"

"Huh?"

"Today, Sophie! You're not looking yourself. From the moment you called me from Dyana, you were trying to say something, but you didn't."

"Oh, that," said Sophie. "It's just that… Howl, you know. He's…"

"You mean the _Wizard Howl _part of it?" asked Kasha, nodding understandingly.

"Well, yeah. You don't know about—no, no, of course you do," muttered Sophie. "I was just worried. You know, the stories and the rumors—"

"Yes, those rumors from the hat shop." Kasha seemed to be greatly bothered. "This isn't good. You and I can both see that. This is Wizard Howl we're talking about, not some petty spell-doer."

"Even though it _is _him, I don't think he's all that evil after all," said Sophie. Kasha gave her such an are-you-kidding-me look that Sophie added, "Really! If he'd wanted to, what, eat our hearts or something, he would've done it. He'd had a day and a half, Kasha."

"I don't know, Sophie, but we'd better keep our guards up. But let's not worry about all that just now. My bed's calling me! Let's get some rest. I'm tired."

"No kidding," agreed Sophie. "Well, good night, Kasha. Sweet dreams."

"Sure. You too, Sophie."

Quickly, the two changed, washed, and settled into their own beds.

Kasha tried to ignore the small pain in her stomach, dismissing it as a stomachache, as she attempted to go to sleep. She knew, however, that it was more, much more than just a stomachache.

Meanwhile, in the Indigo… 

"Calcifer?" Howl bent down in front of the fireplace, where Calcifer was among the logs, to see if the fire demon was still awake.

"Hmm?" responded Calcifer, barely awake. "What'd you need now?"

"Advice, old blueface," he said. "That's what I need."

"What advice?" asked Calcifer. "And since when did you want advice from _me?_"

Howl ignored the last question. "If you are in love with a girl—"

"Female fire demon," corrected Calcifer. "Not the same thing, notice."

"Fine. Female fire demon, then: If you are in love with a_ female fire demon, _what would you do?"

"What would _I _do?" Calcifer seemed bewildered. He'd never been in love with anything before. What kind of a question was that? "I'd, um, tell her I like her, I guess."

"Seriously, Calcifer. What would you do?"

"I don't know! You should know this a million times better than I do, Howl. You."

"Okay, then. You'd tell her you like her. Right away, though?"

"Isn't that what you do?"

"Stop avoiding the question! Right away or not, Calcifer?"

"Not, then. Not right away. I'd… wait until we're both ready. Yeah, that's it."

"Uh-huh."

"Why are you asking me this, Howl? Do you like one of those two girls, or what? If you _do, _are you going to dump them after you get them to like you? Howl? Howl!"

"Nice advice, Calcifer. I'll remember it," said Howl, ignoring all of Calcifer's questions.

"Don't ignore me! I'm asking you something!" demanded Calcifer.

"Fine, then. I have one answer to all your questions," said Howl, getting up from the fireplace and brushing the ashes off his blue and silver suit. "And that is… None of your business."

Howl plunked down a couple of logs next to the fireplace for Calcifer to burn later on in the night if he ran out. "Don't burn them until they're in the grate!" warned Howl as Calcifer continued to call after him.

After changing and washing in the bathroom, Howl plopped down on the soft, white bed. It felt like heaven after the elephant. Calcifer, by now, had stopped complaining and was falling asleep. Very soon, Howl was asleep and gently snoring, too.

In another room, a person had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Howl and Calcifer. He was seated at a tea table in his room—Summer—and on the table was a listening-in spell of some kind. He heard and remembered every word of the conversation.

After he'd made sure from the noises next door that Howl was sound asleep, the thin, dark ginger-haired man dismantled the listening-in spell, and was pouring water into a basin. Then he muttered a spell and a name, causing the water to ripple on the surface, and a moment later someone's face appeared on the water.

"Yes, John?" asked the Witch of the Waste, for that was who the face belonged to. "What _good_ news have you got for me?"

"Very good news this is, ma'am. The Wizard Howl likes one of those two girls," said John. "All we have to do is—"

"I can figure that out myself, thank you, John," interrupted the Witch in a dangerous tone. "No need to tell me what to do."

"I'm not, ma'am, I was simply trying too…" John's voice faltered off.

"Oh, never mind," said the Witch. "Good enough work, for a change, John. You may go away now."

"Th-thank you, ma'am. John, magician, signing off," said John, using a finger to stir the water. The Witch's face faded away, and the water returned to normal. John sighed, and wiped his finger on a cloth. He'd done his job. Now to report home to the Witch—"home", as in the Waste. John sighed again when he thought he'd be going there, but comforted himself in knowing that he'll be back out in Bicknell—away from the Witch—again, and soon.

A/N 

**New character! Now I own John, too!**

**That just sounded…**

**No. Anyways, ignore what I'd just said and_ review!!!!!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter… Well, the title kind of tells it.**

**Go on. Read and comment:**

**So. The story goes on.**

Chapter 6,

In Which Sophie Disappears

Howl was floating in the air, not high enough to touch the clouds, but enough to fly above the tallest buildings. _Fly?_ he thought, then realized._ I can fly! I have my magic back! I've beaten the Witch! _He whooped and did a somersault in the air, narrowly missing the wooden spire. Wooden spire? This was Bicknell? What? All of a sudden, nothing made sense.

_Knock, knock…_ came a distant noise.

_What was that? _Howl thought.

_Knock, knock… _there was the noise again, this time louder.

_Who's there? Come in!_

The knocks came more urgently, now, and much louder. Calls gradually came with them.

"Howl… Howl… you there? This is important! Get up, Howl!" Get up? What was this voice talking about? Couldn't it see he was flying? Howl gestured around as he thought, but there was nothing. Only blackness. Howl tensed up. What was going on?

Howl turned around in confusion, and found himself staring into a woman with glistening, wavy red hair flowing all the way to her waist and a simple ocean-blue tunic over her body. Her skin was pearly-white, her eyes the exact color of her tunic, and she was smiling at him—but there was something weird about the smile. The woman was beautiful, but it was a sort of cruel beauty. Howl's heart thudded, not because of the woman's loveliness, but because he knew who she was. It was the Witch, and she was in the exact same form as the last time Howl had seen her, at the bar. He knew why her smile seems weird: it was more of a sneer, and did not quite reach her eyes. Her hands, which were up behind her back, now shot out and seized Howl's neck. Her blue eyes narrowed, and her sneer became more visible. Howl gasped for air, but the Witch's hands only tightened their grip. Her shrieks of laughter filled the air…

Howl woke up in a cold sweat. His hands flew to his throat, but luckily they weren't being clutched the Witch. It was all a dream, except for the knocks and calls, it seemed, because they continued on, mixed with pounds and threats.

"If you don't open the door, Howl, I'm going to break it down!" shouted the voice. It sounded like Kasha. "I know you won't want me to, so _open it!_"

Groggily, Howl got up, pulled on a bathrobe over his nightclothes, and plodded slowly towards the door. "I'm counting to five, Howl, then I'm coming in. One… Two…"

Howl, alarmed, said quickly, "I'm here, Kasha. Just wait a minute."

Kasha stopped counting. "So you _are _in there! Hurry up! You'll be sorry you didn't open up earlier!" Howl wondered what she'd meant. What could she do? Then he remembered that Kasha was a witch and almost shuddered.

Howl pulled open the door just a tiny bit and stuck his head out. "Hi. What do you want?"

"To get in. Your Majesty didn't notice?" Kasha asked sarcastically. "Let me in, Howl. Sophie—"

"And let_ me _change first," said Howl. He pushed the door closed before Kasha could protest.

Howl changed into his blue-and-silver-suit and washed before he let Kasha in. By that time, she was furious, her brown eyes glinting with rage. "You don't know how, what—" she seemed to be at a lost for words. "Howl, you—Sophie's missing!" Howl stared. "She's just gone! And you just sleep and take your leisurely time!"

"Kasha, I, I didn't know that…" Howl's voice trailed off. Oops. But how was he supposed to know? "What happened to her?"

"I don't _know!_" said Kasha, frustrated. "What should we _do?_" She looked close to tears. Howl wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how.

"We'll, uh, we'll look for her. I'll search the town if needed." Howl kind of regretted saying that. Bicknell was not a small town, as they'd found out last night when searching for an inn. But oh well, he can't take it back now.

Howl was hit with a nasty pang as they were putting on their coats, getting ready to leave. What if the Witch had kidnapped Sophie?

Howl waved the thought out of his mind, but it wouldn't budge. But the more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed.

The Witch laughed her shrieking laugh from her throne. Her blond curls bounced on her shoulders, and her eyes, ocean blue again, are menacingly narrowed. "This is wonderful, John!" said the Witch, clasping her hands. She was grinning into her glass sphere, where a size-reduced Howl and Kasha searched around worriedly for Sophie. "Howl is most certainly going to be delayed!" She paused here for a minute. "Unless you have not put this Sophie girl in a place where she will never be found, Lucas." The Witch stared at Lucas, a large man. Lucas, in spite of his size, retreated involuntarily at the Witch's glare.

"Y-Yes, under your orders, ma'am," stuttered Lucas. "She shall n-not be found unless given the help of a p-powerful magician."

"Did you disable all magicians in the area, then?" asked the Witch. When Lucas looked semi-questioningly at her, she added, "John?"

John jerked up. He'd forgotten to do that. "I—I'll hurry." He backed out of the room as fast as he can, and almost tripped on the carpet.

"Yes, John," said the Witch. "Smart decision." She conjured up a fireball and toyed around with it in her hand. John's expression became all the more frightened, and he tried to double his speed out of the room.

John let out his breath in relief once out of the room. He wanted to leave for Bicknell again, right away, or anywhere else—anywhere away from the Witch. He leaped up, startled, as the fireball previously in the Witch's hand landed a few feet away from him, causing the carpet there to enflame instantly. John could feel its heat even from here, and hurried away as servants rushed to tend to the flame.

But there was an unnoticed loophole in this plan, one that may cause the Witch's whole carefully devised scheme to go awry. It actually had to do with Kasha's looks, though not in the way you'd think.

Need an explanation? Let us go back in time, before anything had gone wrong, before Kasha's change…

_Around forty days ago…_

"Just this once, please?" begged Kasha. "I'll be your best friend!"

"You already _are _my best friend," said Sophie. "Why, anyways, Kasha? You look fine like this. And anyways, why not Lettie and Martha? Why _me?_"

"You're much easier to imitate," said Kasha. "I mean, no offense."

Sophie shrugged. "None taken. It wasn't insulting." Then she sighed. "Fine, then."

Kasha let out a squeal of delight and hugged Sophie tightly. "Thank you! You don't know, Sophie, I've been wanting to try this out _so_ much!"

"Oh, I do know, Kasha. You won't believe how much."

Kasha laughed, a tinkling sound. "Sorry, Sophie. I'll make it up to you later."

Sophie rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Alright, Your Highness! Where to?" Sophie bent down, picked up a reddening maple leaf off the ground, and carefully placed it between pages twenty-four and twenty-five of her book as a bookmark. She closed the book softly as she stood up.

"Your house," said Kasha after thinking for a while. "We'll switch around next time."

Sophie shrugged and they started downhill and after some time, they exited the park.

"So?" asked Kasha excitedly. "How does it look?"

Sophie seemed unsure as she glanced at herself, complete with Kasha's black-brown hair and twinkling tan brown eyes, in the mirror. "Um, I don't know. Like you, I guess."

This caused Kasha to laugh. "Yes, fine, like me. Well, then, how do you _feel?_"

"I feel fine. You?"

Kasha looked at her reflection, moving her arms to see if it was really her. She had Sophie's beautiful red gold hair, Sophie's eyes, even her best friend's long, thin fingers. "In the pink!" she answered cheerfully.

"No one will recognize us, Kasha," Sophie said with a grin. "Not even—let's see—not even the Witch of the Waste or that Wizard Howl."

"That'd be awesome," said Kasha thoughtfully. "Let's go see Fanny, see if she could tell."

"Not even the Witch or Wizard Howl, remember?" teased Sophie, and then nodded.

Sophie smiled to herself as the two stepped out of the room. Kasha had wanted to try this looks-switching spell for weeks, ever since she'd learned it from Ms. Delrina, her magic teacher. The girls now walked down the stairs, careful not to stumble while getting used to their 'new' limbs. They turned right at the bottom, and the door leading to the hat shop was in front of them. After pausing a moment to look at Fanny through the glass on the door, the girls opened it tentatively. The two stood by while Fanny presented a certain pink bonnet to a chunky lady, and then Kasha whispered, "Fanny!", trying her hardest to imitate Sophie's voice. It was a pretty good imitation, and Fanny turned around.

"Sophie, dear," said Fanny to Kasha. "I thought you were at the park."

"I was," said Kasha. "But So-Kasha and I decided to come back for a… um…"

"A bite to eat," finished Sophie, using Kasha's voice. "We got a little hungry."

"Yeah, we got hungry," agreed Kasha.

Fanny gave a slight frown. Kasha had forgotten to disguise her voice. "Your voice, Sophie. It sounds…"

Sophie snickered, then started laughing. "Oh, Fanny, _I_'m Sophie."

Fanny stared, confused for a minute. Then she understood. "Is this that spell you've wanted to do, Kasha?" she asked, directing the question at the real Kasha.

"Yes, Fanny," said Kasha innocently.

"Ah. I thought so. Well, nothing I can say to that, really." Fanny smiled motherly. Just then another customer arrived, and Fanny rushed to him. Sophie and Kasha decided they would go to Kasha's house, and see her mother's reactions.

Kasha's mother had been fooled, too, and after that joke they decided to split up to visit friends' houses and see who'd trick the most people.

"Meet at my house in an hour!" Kasha heard Sophie call as they both went separate ways._ I'm going to win this! _Kasha thought.

Kasha laughed merrily as she trod down the avenue, attracting stares from others strolling on the sidewalks. She'd fooled some more friends with her new looks, and was certain she'd win. She looked up, to check the sun for time, and found it'd been almost an hour. It was past lunchtime, she also noticed. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled loudly. After jiggling her pockets to see if there was money in them—which there was—she looked around for a place to eat, and found a bakery on the other side of the avenue. Kasha waited for the wagons to clear, and crossed over.

The scent of fresh bread hit Kasha like a wave when she walked into the bakery, along with other tasty-smelling things. Savoring the smell, she walked over to the counter and bought a sandwich. Kasha's stomach grumbled complained yet again as she eyed the ham, cheese, and lettuce pressed between two slices of soft, white bread. Kasha chose a table, placed her half-wrapped sandwich down on the wooden surface along with a glass of ice water, and sat, changing her position once in a while to make herself more comfortable. While she ate, Kasha looked out the storefront, which was glossy glass, and found someone else's face staring back. It took a second to realize it was Sophie's. Kasha almost laughed out loud at this. She was going to have to get used to it, because it's going to be months before it wears off.

_After a while…_

Content, Kasha wiped her mouth hands on a napkin provided, took a last sip of the ice water, and walked out of the bakery. She was sighing with satisfaction when suddenly a hand pulled her into an alley, and another covered her mouth. No one saw this, since Kasha was in a more deserted part of town.

Immediately Kasha panicked. Who was this? What did they want with her? The hand that dragged her to this alley let go of her once they were in the shadows, but the other did not uncover her mouth. Kasha tried in vain to twist around enough to see the owner of the hands, but the owner grabbed and positioned Kasha's shoulders so roughly that she could not move.

All of a sudden, Kasha stopped struggling. There was someone else with them; she could sense it. The hands dragged her over so that she was facing the newcomer. To her surprise, it was a woman, and a quite beautiful one, at that. The woman was wearing a long, flowing snow-white dress and a black hat that severely contrasted with her dress. Her eyes were midnight-black, as was her hair.

"Hello," said the woman. Kasha started at the woman's cruel voice. Did Sophie know this woman—this scary-looking, cold-toned woman? "We meet again. It took me a long time to find you, Ms. Hatter. You wasted my precious time when I could've been doing something more_ important._" She paused here. Kasha's previous questions were confirmed, and she looked at the woman with wide eyes. The woman interpreted as this as surprise, which was precisely what Kasha was feeling at the moment, though not in the way this woman had probably thought.

"It's time you knew not to mess with the Witch of the Waste," said the woman coldly, cocking her head with a smile that did not quite reach her eyes. _The Witch! _Kasha thought, suddenly very frightened. The Witch muttered something, and all of a sudden Kasha felt uneasy. "There's something inside you now. I won't tell you what it is, oh no, of course not"—here she gave a loud laugh—"I keep my spells to myself. I shall be kind this time, and give you four months to counter the curse. Not enough time, no, but who said I'd give you enough time? You will feel pain, for sure, dear, and you will lose your magic. After that… I don't know, you may die, I guess." Kasha shuddered, which made the Witch laugh again. "Don't be so _frightened, _Ms. Hatter. Nothing's _wrong,_" said the Witch with a sarcastic snort.

"Lucas?" the Witch seemed to be calling the man holding Kasha in place. "Let her go, now, and we'll be going." And with that, she left with a flourish of her hand. By the time Kasha was freed to turn around, the two were gone. Infuriated yet extremely unnerved, Kasha ran out onto the avenue again, but there were no trace of them.

Sophie was worried sick. What could've happened to Kasha? Sure, she could've been cheating and went to trick more people, but Kasha didn't go that far. It was more than a half an hour after the time they'd promised to meet.

The store bell tinkled as Sophie was thinking, and someone came in. Sophie gazed at the customer, and found she was looking at herself, in a way. It was Kasha, fuming. She stormed into the shop and pushed Sophie aside gruffly when the baffled girl tried to comfort Kasha, causing several customers to look. When Sophie asked Kasha what had happened, Kasha only shook her head.

"Tell me, Kasha, what's wrong?" asked Sophie worriedly. Kasha took one look at her and turned away.

After a while of staring at a spring-green velvet hat, Kasha turned and said bitterly, "You, Sophie. That's what's wrong."

Sophie seemed taken aback by this. "Me?" She had on a slightly hurt expression.

"Yes, you!" snapped Kasha. "Tell me, Sophie, did you ever come to know a certain—let's see—_scary_ woman? Tell me the truth!"

"You know?" Sophie looked at Kasha with a slightly open mouth. "But, how?"

"Don't avoid the question, Sophie! Answer me!"

"Well," began Sophie hesitantly, "it was a rainy afternoon…"

…And Sophie was looking after the shop for Fanny, who was out shopping for silks. Sophie considered this to be the most boring job ever, but someone had to watch the shop, and Sophie had nothing better to do. No customers ever came on rainy days, and when someone does come in, he or she is more likely asking for a shelter from the rain. So Sophie was surprised when the shop bell rang and she heard a voice asking for her.

"Where's the shop attendant?" asked the woman that strode in, accompanied by a young man with dark, gingery hair. Then she saw Sophie. "Find me a hat," she said brusquely. _Strange, she's not the least bit wet from the rain, _thought Sophie.

Sophie kept her remarks to herself, and took out various hats for the woman, a pale blonde, to examine. As the blonde looked through the hats, however, her mind did not seem to be on them. At last, she threw a checkered grey and black hat down beside the hat stands, and said impatiently, "Ms. Hatter, is it? Sophie Hatter?"

Cringing in spite of herself, Sophie wondered how the woman knew. "Yes—miss?"

"Your powers," said the woman simply.

"Powers? I don't know what you're talking about," said Sophie, confused.

"Of course you do. Magic. Witchcraft. You're a witch, Ms. Hatter, and you know it. Don't act like a fool to me, or you'll regret it."

Regret it? Who was this? "I don't have powers, magical or not, miss. I'm a hatter's daughter. That's it, and there's nothing behind that. I_ shouldn't_ have powers."

"Oh?" the woman sounded interested for a second. "Really. But you do. I'm coming back here later. This is taking longer than I'd thought, and I have somewhere to go at the moment. See if you change your mind. Let's go, John." She waved to the man standing next to her. The ginger-haired man trotted along nervously behind the woman as she strode out of the shop.

Sophie decided to get out of the shop. Fast.

"And… that was two days ago," finished Sophie. "Do you believe me, Kasha?"

"There's not a better explanation, is there?" asked Kasha coldly.

"No," said Sophie, turning away. She still didn't understand what had happened. "But how do you know, Kasha? How do you know about my 'meeting' with the woman?"

"You don't know who it is, Sophie," said Kasha. "It's the Witch!"

Sophie stumbled back a few steps. "W-who? The Witch? This is not good." A few customers turned at the mention of the Witch.

"I see, Sophie. Thanks for pointing that out," said Kasha sarcastically. Sophie shrugged lightly.

They didn't speak for a while. Kasha leaned against a wall, glaring at random customers and hats while Sophie rested her head on the counter, not understanding why, or _how _this had happened. The noises in the shop did not quite reach either of them, both of them being deep in her own thoughts. After some time, Kasha turned and left the shop. She stormed home in a cold rage, glowering at anyone who happened to meet her eyes.

This was the new Kasha Milan, and everyone was going to have to get used to it, Kasha thought. And Sophie Hatter—Sophie, my best friend—had caused this.

The second day, the girls set off around town in search of a counter-curse. Finding not even a clue, they went off to Porthaven, then Kingsbury, and many more places: petite villages along paths to and fro bustling cities, islands off the coast of Porthaven… But they found nothing. They'd told their families, long ago, what had happened, and both to Kasha's annoy and surprise, her mother did not blame Sophie for it. Her mother said Sophie did not know who that woman was, nor the consequences if she hid from the Witch. So, after long, tiring days of searching towns and cities, Kasha grudgingly forgiven Sophie for what she'd done.

A little more than a week later, the two set off, away from the place they'd been born, brought up, and lived all their lives in. They had set off to find a counter-curse—well, first, the curse itself. It may be hidden somewhere, in a library perhaps, in some distant land. However far, they'll look.

And so they left.

**A/N The Witch appears (not exactly 'appearing' at times) _four _times in this chapter! Not exactly my intentions, but hey.**

**Kasha is still angry with Sophie, a little, (this is present day) but still, Sophie was (still is?) her best friend, and Kasha wants to save that old friendship—though she probably won't admit it—despite what'd happened.**

**Pretty long chapter? Well, comparing to the other ones? Ch-yeah.**

**Anyhow, let's review! Please…**

**And hope for the next chapter to be up soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven… Seven, the magical number!**

**Despite the number, there's nothing much magical in _this _chapter, though.**

**Maybe in the next chapter…?**

**You'll see if you read:**

**Anyhow, read on…**

Chapter 7,

In Which All of Bicknell Is Searched

"Where—in the world—can she _be?_" panted Kasha, stopping in between words for another breath. They had ran all around town and searched in all the shops, homes, and—most of all—alleyways imaginable, but still hadn't found a trace of Sophie. Kasha, worn out, sat down on a bench. They were at the edge of a park. "For all—we know, the Witch—might've gotten her."

Howl shuddered. Kasha had spoken his fear. _What _if_ the Witch had gotten Sophie?_

"But what would the Witch want from her?" wondered Howl, who was, amazingly, in better shape than Kasha and was not gasping for breath. "Sophie's not the one with magic."

Kasha shifted uncomfortably. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed, Howl. Remember when we were searching everywhere, and I told you about the looks-switching spell?"

Howl nodded, starting to comprehend what Kasha—is it her?—was talking about.

"The spell's fading, Howl. I'm turning back into myself. Sophie, that is." Howl scrutinized Kash—Sophie's features. Indeed, her brown-black hair seemed to be paling into a sort of gold, and her eyes were a mixture of brown and gray. Sophie continued on, "And if we don't get Kasha back soon enough, the Witch will find out._ If_ she isthe one that has taken Kasha, that is. And if she is, I imagine she won't be too happy when she finds out."

"No, she won't," Howl muttered, thinking everything over. "So, this whole time—and I mean from the moment I met you—you were Kasha?"

Sophie nodded. "We had a month to imitate each other. I hope I acted like her. At least, how she was after she was cursed. You know, she turned irritable, and easily annoyed. The Kasha I knew was carefree, and lighthearted."

Howl failed to mention that he could not possibly imagine such a sort of Kasha. Well, this much was clear: it didn't matter if the Witch or anyone else had taken Kasha away; they had to get her back, and as soon as possible. "Let's keep looking—uh, Sophie."

Reluctantly, Sophie left her place of rest—namely, the bench—and followed Howl back into the alleyways and corridors of the city again.

_An hour later…_

Howl and Sophie were back at the park, trying to stay calm and discussing what to do next. They had searched more than half of the town, and ended up with nothing but a little piece of information from a little girl no more than eight years old living right next door to the Rosy Tavern. "I was getting water," she told them, "and I heard some whispers. So I walk to the window, and there were these people. I only heard 'witch's orders' and 'capture her,' but nothing else. I think they were arguing. Then the people walked towards the Tavern. I hope that helped," she finished with a sweet, friendly grin.

This proved that Kasha was probably kidnapped, and probably by the Witch, though neither of them wanted to think about that.

"It's night, Sophie" Howl looked up at the rising moon: a bright comparison to the dark blue—almost black—sky. "Maybe tomorrow—"

"We can't go back and just sleep!" exclaimed Sophie, sitting up straight in the bench. "She may be in danger at _this very moment!_"

Howl put up his hands. "I know, I know! But it'll be harder to search for her in the dark. We'll start right away tomorrow morning. I _promise._" Sophie looked at Howl. He seemed quite sincere.

"Okay, then. First thing tomorrow," said Sophie. "_First thing._"

After a few moments of silence and private thoughts, the two stood up unwillingly and trudged back to the Tavern.

It took both a long, long time to go to sleep, although they were quite exhausted from running around town the whole, entire day.

_The next afternoon…_

Howl and Sophie had searched the whole town. They discovered no other clue. The two were at the park again; this park with its benches was becoming their favorite place for thinking, and most of all _resting_.

"Where could she be?" Sophie paced around and around in circles, and Howl watched her from the bench. "We've searched _everywhere!_ Oh, how could I have not heard anything?"

A sudden thought occurred to Howl. "No."

"No, what?"

"No, we haven't searched everywhere. Not the Tavern."

"The Rosy Tavern! How could we have forgotten that? Ugh, I'm so stupid! C'mon, then! Let's go!" Sophie stopped pacing and tugged at Howl impatiently. They ran all the way back to the Tavern.

Ignoring their tiredness, the two searched the whole inn thoroughly, but again, came up with nothing. Silently, they walked upstairs.

"Nothing…" muttered Sophie, defeated. "Wait… Our rooms!" she exclaimed suddenly, and shot off towards Summer and Indigo. They searched Howl and Calcifer's room, Indigo, first, but there was nothing there.

Then they searched Spring. The two looked under the beds and armchairs, behind the couch, and every other place they could think of.

Finally, from under the couch, Howl yelled excitedly, "Look at this, Sophie!"

Simultaneously, Sophie called from behind the armchair, "Hey Howl, I think I've found something!"

Hearing each other, they asked in unison, "What is it?" and both laughed tensely. They showed the other what they had found, and, realizing something, they fitted what they'd found together. It fitted perfectly.

It looked to be an identification card that must have been split in two, and what it said was shocking.

**A/N: short chapter. But I'll try to make others longer…**

**Well? Didn't expect _that_, did you?**

**Or maybe you did…**

**But anyhow, actually how it came to me was this: I was just re-reading my chapters for editing, et cetera when I realized that Sophie should still be Kasha, and vice versa. And so—here it is.**

**Finals are over! At least for me, they are. What a day it'd been!**

**Why do we have finals? Why do we have tests at all? We shouldn't have tests, I think. Nor homework, for that matter.**

… **Drifting off, here. I tend to do that _a lot._**

**(Actually, finals had been over for pretty long. I was just procrastinating on my story. Shame… D;)**

**I leave you in suspense… kind of.**

**So, let the next chapter come!**

**Review. You'd better x (I'm going to remind you at the end of every chapter… chapter… chapter… continues echoing)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi peoples!**

**I've been really busy lately, and I'm sorry I left you on a cliffie for… a long time!**

**I have an average of two tests each week, and the homework load isn't helping with that either. The past two days, I'd gotten minimal sleep time…**

**Well, back to the story.**

**Chapter eight. Hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 8,

In Which the Kidnapper is Revealed

John baltin

Magician

The waste

_So it was the Witch._ Sophie bit her lip worriedly.

"This tells us nothing," said Howl disgustedly, walking away. "'John Baltin. Magician.' What good does that do us?"

Sophie gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean, it tells us nothing? Look here." Sophie pointed at the last line on the card. Howl looked.

"It's blank there."

"No, it's not." Sophie gave a muddled frown. "Here, see. It says, 'The Waste.'"

Howl gave Sophie an interested look. Then he processed the information she had just given them. "The Waste!" He gave a strained laugh. "For real?"

"I don't kid in situations like these, Howl," sighed Sophie.

"Good point." Well, here it was. Their fears were confirmed. They just couldn't seem to get away from the Witch. Next to him, Sophie was thinking the exact same thing.

"What does the Witch need a magician for?" pondered Sophie out loud. "What's the point, if she can do greater magic, way beyond what her servants can do?"

"Dirty work," replied Howl. "She never does the dirty work herself." Sophie was about to ask how Howl knew this, but Howl continued on. "But the question remains standing, Sophie. _What _does she _want?_"

Neither of them knew the answer to that question. They didn't really _want_ to know, either.

All of a sudden, a rattle of glass could be heard. Both of them flinched at the unexpected sound, which came with muffled calls. Their hopes soared for a moment as they wondered if it was Kasha, but then Howl began to feel the small, abrupt vibrations from his belt. He checked his belt, complete with a now next to empty coin purse, a smaller, more basic version of our Swiss Army pocketknife, and—the Enchanted Bottle. It was, at this moment, busy rattling itself in its pocket, trying to get attention.

"Mmmowl!" the bottle—or really, Calcifer—said, and jingled some more.

Carefully, Howl took the bottle out from his belt, and held it up. The restless fire demon could be seen, jumping—is that the right word?—up and down. Howl popped out the cork, and Calcifer flew out. "I was trying to tell you something!" When no one said anything, he went on. "Last night, right after we booked these two rooms, this man came up and booked the one right next to ours. Or tried to, anyways. He seemed to get really angry when the innkeeper told him it was reserved. That was all I saw, though, because we went upstairs just then." Howl placed the cork back in the bottle, only semi-consciously aware of what he was doing. Then he strapped the bottle back onto his belt.

"When you were downstairs eating, I saw the same man staring at you. Well, _us, _I guess I should say. Whenever you looked his way, he turned, but he didn't know _I _was there. What was annoying was that you kept turning and moving, and your suit and its mile-long sleeves kept blocking my view. Anyways, after you ate and went upstairs, the man followed you. He went into the room next door."

"_Sophie and Kasha's room?_"

"No, genius, the other side of our room. Summer," said Calcifer. He paused a little for reactions. When he received none, he urged, "Well, then?"

"Well then, what?" asked Howl.

"Are you looking in there?"

"Wouldn't it be illegal?" questioned Sophie worriedly.

"Maybe, but Kasha's life is in jeopardy," said Calcifer. "What're you going to do?"

Without hesitation, Sophie decided. "Let's go."

The two humans lead the way out of Spring, and Calcifer hovered after them. Sophie, the first to get to Summer, looked nervously up and down the corridor before creaking open the door just a little. She peeked in from the slit, scanned the room, and gave the okay sign to Howl and Calcifer. Opening the door wider, the three walked (or floated) in.

Howl quietly closed the door behind him, looking sideways at the fire demon. "Calcifer, why didn't you tell us this before?"

"Forgot," the fire demon said simply. "Food makes me drowsy, and therefore forgetful." Howl gave him a skeptical stare.

"I don't know what I should be saying," commented Sophie suddenly. "Wow, or just… wow."

Howl and Calcifer looked around, and found themselves staring at Mess Land. There were clothes draped over the bed, couches, armchairs, and strewn over most of the floor. Shoes were everywhere as well, and socks, not always in their pairs, pretty much became a second later of carpet for most of the room. Newspapers were all over the place, along with books and just random things.

"He's messy," remarked Howl rather unnecessarily.

"It's hard to believe he's only been here a day," said Sophie, strangely awed.

"He might've done a dirtying-up spell," suggested Howl.

"Why'd he do that?"

"To hide something," said Howl. The two of them shared a look. Then, simultaneously, they broke out, searching for whatever that may be a clue. Calcifer hovered around the room, looking for anything suspicious.

They looked below the bed, behind the armchair, underneath the cushions of the couches, and even in the closet (mind you, it was a big closet). It was hard work. Everything was just so _messy_!

"Hey, look," said Calcifer. "Funny."

"What?" asked Howl, stepping over articles of clothing to Calcifer. "What's funny?"

"This." Calcifer pointed with a tiny hand to a large heap of junk in a corner of a room. "All piled up together. Why?"

"I don't know, but we're about to find out," said Sophie, and started to un-stack the pile. A few moments later a large duffel bag came into few, and Howl grumbled, "Finally."

"Finally? I could've used your help," she said, straightening up and dusting off her hands. Howl ignored the comment along with Sophie's venomous glare, and bent to inspect the bag. He tilted it from side to side, poking around to see what its contents were—and finding it secured with a Harden spell, and, most important of all, a lock. A bespelled lock.

"Let's see," muttered Sophie, twisting the lock every which way to see if there was a possible way of breaking it.

"Don't bother," said Howl, fumbling for something a suit pocket. "It's locked. Magically, I mean." He mumbled something as he took out various items, examined them, and stuffed them back into another pocket. "Good thing I kept these… Let's see: Unblock, Clean… Wash? Oh, here it is." He held out what looked like a small, key-shaped stone.

"A stone," said Sophie, somewhat disappointed.

Howl wagged a finger at her. "Not just a stone, Sophie. A Charm stone."

"And?"

Howl sighed. "A Charm stone," he repeated patiently. "This one, in particular, unlocks things. It's an Unlock Charm."

"I see!"

"Here," said Howl, gently nudging Sophie out of the way. "I'll do the charm. With magic or not, anyone can do this, but I, for one, prefer it to be me." He proceeded to mutter inaudibly.

Then he rubbed the stone with his thumb, three times. The pebble shimmered, and slowly began melting into a long strip of metal. As it was taking form, Howl inserted it into the keyhole in the lock. Finally, he said another spell.

"**Open, Lock,**

**Unclasp this instant.**

**Open, Lock,**

**Unlatch this moment."**

There was a click, and the lock opened. Howl smiled in satisfaction. There wasn't much glory in this moment, though, since the charm was not at all hard to do.

"Well done!" Sophie clapped gladly.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Howl. "But just to let you know, that was probably the simplest Charm out of all Charms."

Sophie chose to ignore this, and instead watched as Howl took out the key from the lock, stuffed it back in his suit pocket, and carefully opened the duffel bag. She leaned forward expectantly, and Calcifer hovered beside her, craning whatever neck he had.

"Books," Howl muttered. "Lots of them. And notebooks. These are all his important belongings, and he keeps it with such a simple Lock, it's unbelievable. I wonder if there's a trap?" With that question, Howl stood up cautiously and looked around. When no contraption sprang at him, he bent down to the bag again. He scanned the books, and found one that particularly stood out. Understandably curious, Howl picked the book up and flipped through the pages.

"Interesting," muttered Howl. "It's one of those rare, old Charm books." He flicked through the book, stopping once in a while at a random spell or curse. After a little self-tour around the book, he flipped back to the first page. Signed, among lots of others, in shimmering blue magical ink, was the name John Baltin. "It's the John guy. This must've been a passed-down book, from his ancestors, perhaps. But I don't think he's all that bright. What if someone found this book? I would've put it under more Charms, if I were him. Hey, what's this? A bookmark." Lifting up the satin ribbon working currently as the bookmark, the ribbon opened the book to some two pages near the beginning of the volume.

The page to the left was a Concealment Charm. On the opposite page was the opposite Charm: the Counter-Concealment Charm.

Howl quietly read the opposite page, frowning to himself as he did so.

The whole Charm was penned in curvy, even handwriting. It was probably magically pen-written onto the sheet, with the same shimmering blue magical ink used to sign many of the names on the first page. Howl's frown grew deeper as he continued to read.

**Ingredients:**

Sheep's milk

White sugar

Watermelon-sized bowl

**Conditions:**

The spell must be done on a clouded night.

**Procedures:**

Pour sheep's milk into bowl. Sprinkle on white sugar. Put some (part of an) item belonging to the Concealed victim into the bowl. Stir. After mixture softens, say:

**Help me.**

**Find them—wherever they may be.**

**Show me.**

**Reveal them—wherever they are, to me.**

Then, immediately, say the Concealed victim's name, clearly, in whatever language that the counter-charming magician is comfortable with. Cover it with a piece of cloth, and let softened mixture in bowl sit overnight. In the morning, uncover the bowl, and say the victim's name again. If the mixture ripples, then the Concealed has been Revealed. If not, try again.

If you wish to determine the position of the recently Revealed, then Command the mixture. Speak clearly when Commanding. You have to provide specific instructions.

Sophie interrupted impatiently. "Well, Howl? Is there anything helpful?"

"What?"

"To help Kasha," said Sophie. "Well?"

"Oh. Oh, there's this: a Counter-Concealment Charm," muttered Howl. His attention turned to the Concealment Charm. There were some little notes jotted along the margins of the page, little smudgy notes. _Gray eyes, _read one of the notes. _Red-gold hair,_ read another. And a final jot read, _Sophie Hatter. _Howl started.

"Sophie, I think we've found our solution," said Howl, pleased with himself. "Shall we try it?"

"A Counter-Concealment Charm," muttered Sophie. "But we've got to get out of this room first. John might come back any moment, and we certainly don't want him to see us snooping around. He might tell the Witch!"

"Oh. Right. We should go." Howl tapped the lock, which shimmered, and presumably locked itself magically again.

Howl stuffed the Charms book into a suit pocket that was half the book's size (somehow, the book fit), and went in search in various pockets for something else.

"Ah ha!" he said, digging out a miniature wooden clock. "Here it is; the Time-Back Charm!"

"Work it, Howl," said Sophie urgently. "Any minute now, he'll be back."

"Patience, patience," muttered Howl, and ran his hand over the clock. He tossed it gently up into the air, where the clock floated. Then he cleared his throat, and began.

"**Return to your original State  
Return; don't be late**

**Put everything back in its place  
Fast, make haste."**

Howl moved the hands on the clock until it read four-thirty—just before Howl and Sophie investigated this room. He pressed the spot where the clock hands met, and motioned for Sophie to leave.

Sophie stared while things in the room began to move by themselves, slowly at first, then faster, and faster. They rearranged themselves to their original positions at four-thirty, flying across the room to heap back into various places.

"Sophie!" called Howl, motioning for her to leave. "Let's _go!_"

Still staring at the self-rearranging room, Sophie slowly backed out the door and into the hallway. She kept her eyes on the clock with swirling hour and minute hands, floating in the center of the room until Howl closed the door before her.

"Come on. To the kitchen," urged Howl, shooing Sophie downstairs.

To the great irritation of the cooks, Howl and Sophie asked and wandered around the small kitchen until they found some sheep's milk, white sugar, and a large bowl. These they brought back to Sophie's room.

"Yup," said Howl, retreating from the open window.

"What?" Sophie looked up from the sugar she had sprinkled on the milk in the bowl.

"It's a clouded night," said Howl. He had explained the Charm to Sophie when they were searching for the ingredients, so Sophie knew what he was talking about.

"Oh. Well, let's finish before it clears up, or something," said Sophie, taking a hair from Kasha's brush, and putting it into the milk/sugar mixture. "Ugh," she added, as the hair swirled around in the milk, "reminds me of the milk I saw growing up."

Howl made a face to himself.

With a small spoon, Sophie stirred the mixture until the ingredients somehow melted together, including the hair. "Hair, milk, and sugar," declared Howl. "Our new finest drink."

Sophie gagged. "Disgusting. Here, you see if it's softened."

Scowling and holding back his flowing sleeve with a hand, Howl tentatively put his thumb and index finger into the mixture, and stirred it a bit. "Yeah, it's softened, alright. It's a sickening milk-sugar-hair jelly."

"Lovely. So, what do we do? We leave it overnight?" asked Sophie, watching Howl thoroughly wipe his fingers on a towel.

"You're forgetting something. You have to say the Charm first," Howl reminded her. "Here, you say it. Repeat it after me, memorize it, and pronounce each and every word without a mistake. Let's see you try it, Sophie." And besides, he wanted to experiment something. "Here goes." Howl recited the Charm, with a voice that was suddenly rich, like melted chocolate. "Repeat."

Surprisingly without fault, Sophie repeated the Charm after Howl.

"Very nice," praised Howl. Sophie mumbled a 'thank you,' and Howl just smiled his gracious smile. "Now, stare at the mixture. Produce an image of Kasha in your mind, just the way she is… currently. Clear all other thoughts in your mind, and—recite."

Her voice clear, Sophie recited the Charm. Immediately after she said the last word, a small ripple ran across the surface of the mixture, and the jelly glowed black-brown.

"Hey. Her hair color," said Sophie, smiling in satisfaction. "Meaning it _did _work, right, Howl?"

"Yes, yes it did," muttered Howl. He seemed to be thinking about something. "We'll have to let it sit overnight, though. Uh, see you tomorrow, Sophie…"

Howl left, almost bumping into the wall as he tried to go out the door.

"Remember to pack, so we'll be ready to leave tomorrow!" called Sophie. She wasn't sure if he'd heard. Sophie paused for a moment to stare at the now black-brown mixture, wondering what was wrong with Howl _now._

Back in his room, Howl plopped down on the bed.

"Calcifer?" he called softly.

"Hmm?"

"You did read that last note on the Counter-Charm, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"So this means…"

"You've got it."

Howl pulled out the Charm book from his pocket and opened to the bookmarked page: the Concealment and Counter-Concealment Charm. Frowning in thought, he stared at the note on the bottom of the page.

Note. For this Counter-Charm to work, you need to have a magical person do all of it. A non-magical creature will not for this spell.

**A/N: Meaning, Sophie's a 'magical person.' Most likely, anyway.**

**So, spring break's coming up, and I might be gone for a while… a week, maybe. I'll try to work on this, though. :**

**Review, please! (Constructive criticism!)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! Chapter nine.**

**Sorry, I've been so busy lately—and the actual, non-state finals are coming up next month again! I'll try my best to update!**

**Thanks, everyone, for the reviews! You're all the **_**best!**_

Chapter 9,

In Which Everything Turned Out Fine… For Now

"Sophie! Are you awake? Get up! It's morning!" Howl was impatient to go and look for at the bowl, but it was in Sophie's room.

He couldn't just burst in, like Sophie did to him. A guy going into a girl's room and a girl going into a guy's room in the morning—same concept, but very different in the way of consequences.

Sophie yawned sleepily. "Just five more minutes, Howl…"

"Sophie! Get up! We have to take a look at the bowl!" reminded Howl impatiently.

"Yeah, bowl—ow!" In her haste to get up, Sophie had sat up too fast and bumped her head on the bunk beds' railing. Softly rubbing the back of her head, Sophie cleaned, dressed, and opened up for Howl.

"Girls really do take long to get up," complained Howl.

"Well, at least now you know how I felt yesterday," Sophie shot back.

"Bowl," reminded Calcifer. The two glared at each other before going to the bowl.

"Hey, it's not black and brown anymore," said Howl, stating the obvious. "It's clear, like a mirror. All shiny, you know…" Howl stopped when Sophie gave him an "enough" look. "The command, Sophie." He seemed to stare at her and think for a moment. "Here." He pushed the bowl over to her. "You do it."

"Whatever." She cleared her throat. "Um, Bowl… show us Kasha Milan." The water rippled, though nothing had touched its surface. Images of places and people flashed across the clear surface, and finally stopped at one particular picture. It was a dimly lit room, with something in a corner. "Zoom in on the figure," commanded Sophie. Nothing happened. "Uh—zoom, _please?_" This time the bowl obeyed, enlarging the picture until it was clear what that shadow in the corner was.

"Kasha," whispered Sophie.

Howl frowned at the water. "That's her, all right. I mean—you. Her, in your form…" He gave up; Sophie knew what he was talking about.

"She's unconscious," said Sophie, worried. "Bowl, please show us where Kasha Milan is—in other words, zoom out more." As soon as she finished her sentence, the image started to move further out. It came out of a door, and out of another one, besides which was a sign that read "Summer". The picture moved further and further, until it came to a stop outside a building. It was old-styled, with an old, wooden, handwritten sign hanging down above the door that said "The Rosy Tavern".

Howl and Sophie shared wide-eyed looks. "Cal…Calcifer?" said Howl quietly. "What did you say was the name of John's room?"

"Summer," said the fire demon simply. That was enough. The two burst out the room with the bowl, Calcifer trailing behind. They went, after knocking cautiously, into Summer. John wasn't there, again, and they set the bowl on his desk.

Both pairs of eyes darted around the room to see where Kasha could be, and both pairs of eyes landed on the closet.

"Bowl, please zoom in again." Sophie kept an eye on the picture, stopping it when it reached the first door. She examined the image carefully, and looked up. "One and the same, Howl. It's the closet."

And so that was it—Kasha had been imprisoned in the closet the whole time!

"Kasha!" Sophie ran to the closet, nearly crashed into it, and opened it up. The closet was big, as they have noted, and indeed, there in the corner, bound and gagged, was Kasha Milan.

Howl had gotten the bowl, dismantled the spell, and refilled the bowl with cold water. That water was now dumped over Kasha, helping her wake up.

Kasha sputtered slightly, sitting up. Sophie was untying the napkin around her mouth, and Howl set to work on those around her ankles and wrists. "You two came for me!" she said, once the napkin was off. "How'd you know I was in here?"

"Through a bowl," said Howl, managing to untie all the ropes. "And where is this?"

"The Witch's castle," replied Kasha. "What bowl did you two look in?"

"Time for chitchat later," whispered Howl. "Let's get out of here first—John could come back, or the Witch's henchmen could come!"

The girls nodded, and the three of them hurried from Summer.

They grabbed their luggage, which had been packed last night, and sped out of town on a wagon.

"That bowl was a part of a counter spell," explained Howl. "It told us where you were, Kasha, and showed you to us. You were invisible to us before."

"Thanks," said Kasha gratefully.

"That's what friends are for, right?" Sophie smiled. Howl gave Kasha a shrug.

"Right."

It was late afternoon, and they were well on their way to Roma. Kasha had fallen asleep due to her long imprisonment, and Sophie was looking out the back of the wagon.

Sophie looked up, and saw Howl, looking gloomy in his corner. She scooted over to him. "What's wrong, Howl?"

"Almost three days," he said softly. "We lost almost three days, looking for Kasha."

"I'm… sorry, Howl," said Sophie, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If you hadn't met us…"

"It's fine," said Howl, making his tone light. "We can make it up in no time. And anyways"—he flashed a dazzling smile at Sophie—"I'm glad we met."

Sophie blushed, looking away. "That's good, then." The conversation ended there. Sophie went back to looking out the back of the wagon, unconscious of the fact that Howl was staring after her.

Kasha woke up later on, as Howl and Calcifer slowly drifted off to sleep. The two girls listened to their soft snores for a while in silence. After fifteen minutes or so, Kasha poked Sophie on the back softly.

"Yeah?" Sophie, said, and looked up.

"I suppose you were right," admitted Kasha grudgingly. "Howl wasn't all that bad after all. He did give up his own time to search for me."

"And he was worried," added Sophie.

"Mmhmm," said Kasha, looking at the sleeping Howl, "I didn't know much about him back… ha! Back _only _two days ago! Well, things can change pretty fast, huh?" Sophie nodded.

They didn't say much for a while.

Sophie broke the silence. "So Roma it is,"

"Yeah," agreed Kasha. "Roma it is."

The wagon bumped along the dirt road, making its passengers bounce along with it. The sun had almost finished setting; there was just a little tinge of red on the horizon. Sophie looked at that tinge carefully. With the sunset, almost another day had passed. With the next sunrise, another day would come—and who knew what dangers that day brought with it? But what did it matter, thought Sophie with a smile, if they had each other?

**A/N: I have crappy, short chapters… D:**

**Anyway. Everyone is safe and sound… for now. On to Roma, which is actually another name for Rome!**

**Review, please!**


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